Furnace



4April 2Q 1929- T, M.A STEPHENS FURNACE Filed sephao, 1927 il O Patented Apr. 2, 1929.

THOMAS M. STEPHENS, OIF MICHIGAN CTY, INDANA, ASSIGNOR 'IO SULLVAN VIA- CHINERY COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

FURNAGE.

Application filed September 30, 1927.

My iiwentiou relates to furnaces, and more particularly to blank heating furnaces for healingY blanks prelin'iinary to forggiiu;` operations.

An object of my invent-ion is to provide an improved i'furnace. Another object of my invention to provide an inun'oved heating' furnace for the heating` of a continuous series of blanks for Working in forging;h machines. A1 further object of my invention is to provide an improved heatingv furnace haring improved means whereby blanks may be conveniently and readily discharged from the furnace when heated to the desired temperature. Other objects and advantages of my invention will hereinafter more fully appear. t

1n the accompanying drawings in which l have shown for purposes ofillustration one form which my invention may assume in practice,

Fig. 1 is a central vertical sectional vieiv through the illustrative form of my improved furnace.

Fig. 2 is a section on a plane corresponding' to the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is substantially horizontal section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

ln the manufacture of the cutter bits employed with cutter chains of coal mining machines, it is customary according,l to the best practice to employ machine forging, and for the purpose of heating the blanks for the forging` machine, forging` furnaces are provided in which series of blanks may be heated, the blanks being serially introduced, progressively heated, and removed as they reach the desired temperature. In lfin. 1 a furnace l? is shown mounted upon a suitable frame generally indicated Il.

llpon the top of this frame is an `iron housingr i of a. `renerally rertaiunilar shape in horizontal section and haw' a combustion chamber (S and, l vertically erdendineflue 7. A burner for oil or gas is provided at 8, discharging lon `iritudinally of the combustion chamber. Thel housing; is lined with lire brick 9 to withstand high ten'iperatures and to aid in the heating of the blanks by radiation.

Mounted Within the casing of the furnace, herein in the Wall thereof opposite the burner 8, is a substantially vertically extending` guidevvay 10 of a size to receive the buttends of the blanks to be heated, thisl guideu at its bottom siibslantially` Serial No. 223,155.

way extendingf substantially from the top to the bottom of the casing and toriniiuitinp; at its loiver end adjacent an (n )eiiingr 12 of a size to permit the discharge of heated blanks therethrough, `the opening1 12 being,r gener ally rectangular but having a cut-away portion adjacent its inner extremity at 13 to permit the discharge of dull bits which are in the process of resharpening Well as the discharge of blanks proper. Disposed below the opening' 12 is a tgenerally cylindrical, rotatably mounted blank discharge element and abutment member 15, this member, instead of being circular in cross section, being provided with diametrically opposilely disposed shoulders 16 and having; its periphery curving from the base of each shoulder in a smooth curve to the outer-most edge of the other as at 17. I have shown herein two surfaces 17 and two abutments 16 but it is evident that the number of abuianents and surfaces may be determined in accordance With the Wishes of the designer and may vary from one to several. The mem ber 15 is supported upon a shaft 18 suitably journaled at 19 and held in proper longitudinal position by a collar 20. A hand crank 21 may rotate the shaft 18 and so the member 15. A blank receivingr element 22 is supported in a position to receive the blanks as they are discharged by rotation of the member 15 and to turn them into position for easy grasping by the smiths tongs. The axis of the shaft 18 lies approximately in the central `vertical plane of the blank guideway 10 so that the member 15 constitutes an abutment supporting an entire stack of blanks. It will be noted that the element 15 is slightly longer than a blank, in the form shown, and that it un derlies the lowest blank substantially from end to end of the, latter.

From the foregoing description the inode of opera-tion. of the mechanism described will be readily apparent. Referring io Fin'. Q it will be evident that the pile of blanks 23 is resting upon the periphery of the me1nber 151 adjacent one of the shoulders 1G thereon and that the shoulder 16 at its outermost portion extends a radial distance from the axis of rotation of the shaft 18 just sutilcient to clear the bottom of the casing Accordingly, on rotation, by means of the handle 21, of the member 15 the shoulder 16 will sweep off the bottom blank and conlli() evident that I have `provided an improv vand lvery snnple mechanism ior supporting Vey it to lihetrough 22, and therefore the entire stack of blanks will be lowered as the surface 17 slides beneath them until the enti-re steek is 4one blank lower than before the removelyof the blanke first mentioned. Atihe end of 180V rotation of the member l5 the other Shoulder 16 Will be acljacenthe bottom blank and further rotation will removethis blank in turn.

From the foregoing description it v-.f'il b:

astack of blanks and `progressivelly remm ing them as `they Vare 'brought up to the desired ltemperalfure. llt will 'urher be evident that 'the const-i'ucion is `ezgeeedingly simple, ,practically indestructible, and readily operable. lVhile I have in this vapplication specili-` caillyfdesoribed one lier-m which my invenlion vmay assume in practice, it will be'undere stood -tnat 1l-hisfiorm of the seme is shown Y for purpoe'es uof 'illusbra-tion and 'that the invarioue other forms withoutl departingv from its spirit or ehe scope of the appended claim. Vilhab claim ab' new and, desire lo .eeeure by Leiters Parent is:

In a blank 'heating furnace, means forining` a combustion chamber providingl moana fior guiding a stack of blanks; and a. die4 charge oril'iee ithrough which healed blanke may pass, means for heating' the blanksl during)` their sojourn in said comble-lion chamber, and means for supporting said blanks and discharging irho saine including' a combined blank support-ine` and discharge element juxaposed to said discharge oriliee und normally supporting through the lowermoet 'blank all che bla-nhs in the slack, said element being oi.E a length to permit engagiemenu by a blank substantially throughout the length of lthe latter and being morable to discharge a blank by niovenieiu` o `she latter 'transversely of the length thereof.

In ee'rimony whereof l aiix my signature,

THOMAS M. STEPHENS. 

